Corentyne butcher Asif Hamid, who was sentenced to 15 years last month after admitting to the 2015 killing of a man he had strangled and buried in a shallow grave, is appealing the sentence which he says is too severe.
In his notice of appeal lodged with the Guyana Court of Appeal, the 27-year-old, formerly of Lot 34 Kingston, Corriverton, Berbice said that the sentence imposed by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall is very harsh.
He complains, too, of having not been given an opportunity by the judge to address the court.
The offender was represented by defence attorney Mursaline Bacchus SC, who had made a plea in mitigation on his behalf, asking the court among other things to consider that his client was 22 years old when the offence was committed.
Hamid’s appeal now awaits fixture for hearing.
He had initially been indicted with murdering Henry Lallman, 76, of Number 55 Village, Corentyne, Berbice in August, 2015.
On January 21st, however, Hamid copped to the lesser charge of manslaughter, admitting that it was in fact he who had unlawfully killed the septuagenarian.
Lallman had disappeared and police were able to stumble upon the man’s partially decomposed body after they were informed that he had gone to Hamid’s home and never returned.
The man’s body was discovered in a shallow grave dug under a mango tree in Hamid’s yard.
An autopsy revealed that he had died from strangulation.
Lallman had gone to the butcher’s home to collect money owed to him from the sale of cattle. However, there was a misunderstanding and the suspect had told investigators that he strangled the pensioner.
Before imposing the sentence, Justice Morris-Ramlall had said that she took into consideration the nature and gravity of the offence, the manner in which the crime was committed, that the crime involved the taking the life of an elderly and vulnerable person with whom the accused had a good relationship, and the fact that the deceased trusted Hamid to the extent that he regularly extended credit to him, as the caution statement given by the accused revealed.
She noted that Lallman trusted Hamid enough to go alone to his premises to retrieve money owed to him. “That trust was betrayed when the accused strangled the deceased, snuffing out his life,” the judge had said.
She then added that while the accused’s attorney submitted that the court should take into account the fact that no weapon was used, “…one also should appreciate that the hands in this case were just as effective as any other weapon. They were effective in achieving the deliberate purpose of the accused.”
According to the judge, she also considered the fact that Hamid took the life of an “elderly friend” just over “a few dollars.”
Justice Morris-Ramlall added that she also took into account that the offender seemed to have placed no value on the deceased’s life or dignity based on the manner in which he disposed of Lallman’s body by placing him in a shallow grave.
She also considered the victim impact statement which was made by the granddaughter of the deceased, which highlighted the effects his death has had on his family.
Additionally, the judge noted that the probation report said the deceased was a philanthropist in his community.
The judge said she also considered the plea in mitigation made by Bacchus, but she said she had also studied the probation report and detected no remorse from Hamid for his actions and, instead, just a statement about him being traumatised.
The judge then started the term of imprisonment at 30 years but added that she is required to take into account the fact that the offender placed himself at the mercy of the court by accepting responsibility for his action when he entered a guilty plea, and, therefore, she deducted 10 years and an additional five years for time spent on remand.
“I have found no other mitigating circumstance. The accused is therefore sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of 15 years. That is the sentence of the court,” Justice Morris-Ramlall had said.
